[Bug 752059] MajorMod: Manually Upgrading the Kernel: Update for GRUB 2

[Chris Murphy]

On Apr 25, 2012, at 8:34 AM, Jaromir Hradilek wrote:
> 
> I do not agree. There are more sections in the book that directly or indirectly discuss GRUB and require the user to verify its configuration (section 20.5, "Verifying the Initial RAM Disk Image"; section 22.1.2.1, "Configuring the Memory Usage"). All these sections need to be reviewed and updated.

Complicating matters is that UEFI installs use GRUB Legacy EFI for F16 and F17, although the location of files is different. So upon second consideration, wholesale removal or replacement of existing GRUB content isn't indicated.

There is the related issue of partition tables: UEFI systems will use GPT, and BIOS systems use MBR except when disks are > 2.2TB [1]. The partition table affects syntax used in GRUB 2's grub.cfg.

>  3. The System Administrator's Guide does not have a dedicated chapter for GRUB at the moment. The chapter in question is not about GRUB, which is something that is not mentioned in this discussion and should be. It is about manually upgrading the kernel, which is something people are not encouraged to do (see the admonition at the very beginning of the chapter). People who decide to do this are usually very technical and are capable of recognizing that something is different on their system and that the chapter is outdated.

a.) There is an entire appendix on GRUB in the Installation Guide, which probably would be better placed in the Sys Admin Guide, revised for GRUB Legacy EFI particulars. A separate appendix on GRUB 2 particulars could be started, and eventually a section on how GRUB 2 EFI differs.

b.) If people are not encouraged to do something, that something shouldn't be documented at all. This is like handing out razor blades and telling people to go play out on the freeway.

c.) I'm regularly coming across many technical people who are very confused about GRUB 2, assuming they still need to manually edit grub.cfg rather than the separate user editable files, and then re-running the grub.cfg creation script.

The question now is if the user and admin confusion is better handled at this stage of the F17 cycle in documentation, even a simple sidebar on invoking GRUB 2's grub2-mkconfig command? Or left alone for more invasive re-organization? Simultaneous documentation of two GRUBs is going to take some non-trivial work, starting with how to organize, which isn't a likely conversation until after F17 ships, is my guess.


Chris Murphy